http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/ct-sacred-heart-hospital-sentencing-met-20160812-story.html
Venkateswara Kuchipudi, right, walks with his lawyer Theodore Poulos outside the Dirksen U.S Courthouse on Aug. 12, 2016, after Kuchipudi was sentenced to two years in prison for his part in a fraud scheme at the now-shuttered Sacred Heart Hospital.
Faced with ever-changing rules and regulations, hospital and health system CEOs must constantly keep a pulse on the healthcare industry and be ready to alter their organizational strategy any day of the week. Chris Van Gorder, president and CEO of San Diego-based Scripps Health, talked to Becker’s Hospital Review about some of the biggest challenges and successes that are currently top of mind.
Mr. Van Gorder has led Scripps, a $2.9 billion integrated health system, since 2000. He is a fellow of the American College of Healthcare Executives and served as the 2010 chairman of the association.
His exposure to healthcare began as a hospital patient when he was critically injured while responding to a family dispute. After a long recovery, Mr. Van Gorder started a new career in hospital security, eventually rising through the ranks of healthcare management. Today, in addition to serving as Scripps’ president and CEO, he is a reserve assistant sheriff to the San Diego County Sheriff’s Department, in charge of the Law Enforcement and Search and Rescue Reserves. He also is a licensed emergency medical technician (EMT) and an instructor for the American Red Cross.
Here, Mr. Van Gorder took the time to answer our six questions.
Minneapolis-based Allina Health saw revenues increase in the first six months of 2016, but the 13-hospital health system’s operating income and net income fell in the first half of the year.
Allina revenues increased 4.1 percent year over year to nearly $2 billion in the six months ended June 30, according to bondholder documents. The financial boost was attributable to increased patient volume. Allina said inpatient admissions were up 0.5 percent and outpatient hospital admissions were up 3.1 percent in the first half of this year, compared to the same period of 2015.
The system said operating income decreased by 40 percent year over year to $54 million in the first six months of 2016. The decrease was largely due to strike expenses. Allina said it incurred $20.4 million of expenses related to the seven-day strike in June called by the Minnesota Nurses Association.
The nurses association authorized the strike after Allina nurses overwhelmingly rejected an offer by the health system that would have eliminated union-backed health insurance and moved the workers to plans that other health system employees receive. During the strike, Allina brought in 1,400 replacement nurses.
http://www.beckershospitalreview.com/lists/50-states-of-population-health.html
We asked hospital executives from every state in America about their No. 1 health concern.
Earlier this week, Gabriela Martínez Hernández, a lawyer for Amerimed Cancún Hospital, issued a statement saying the hospital “never has, and never will, refuse to release a nonpaying patient for financial reasons. It is unethical and against the law.”
Amerimed Cancún Hospital is part of Amerimed Hospitales, a chain of private hospitals throughout Mexico. Two of the system’s facilities in Los Cabos were closed down by Mexican officials earlier this year due to predatory business practices and billing.
HENRY KOTULA 